Dacre to chair editors' code committee

Paul Dacre: said he is 'a passionate supporter of the principle of self-regulation'. Photograph: Daily Mail

The Daily Mail editor, Paul Dacre, is to be the new chairman of the editors' code of practice committee, which oversees the Press Complaints Commission code of standards.

Dacre, who is also editor-in-chief of Associated Newspapers, replaces former News International executive chairman Les Hinton, who moved to New York in December to take up the post of chief executive of News Corporation subsidiary Dow Jones.

"I am honoured to be asked to become chairman of the code of practice committee. I am a passionate supporter of the principle of self-regulation, press freedom and a code which reflects both the concerns of newspapers and needs of the public which it serves," he said.

Dacre will formally take the reins at the code committee's meeting in April and will step down as a member of the PCC.

Hinton had been committee chairman since 1999. The committee reviews and revises the voluntary code of standards that the PCC adjudicates.

"The chairman's role requires an eminent figure respected by the whole press industry - national, regional and magazines - and by government and civil society. Paul Dacre was the unanimous choice," said the code committee secretary, Ian Beales.

The committee is seeking a magazine editor to replace Lindsay Nicholson, the editorial director of the National Magazine Company, who has joined the PCC as a commissioner.

The PCC also announced today that the Sunday Telegraph editor, Ian MacGregor, and Tina Weaver, the editor of the Sunday Mirror, have been appointed PCC commissioners and will adjudicate complaints from members of the public.

MacGregor and Weaver will join the PCC, alongside five industry representatives Daily Express editor Peter Hill, Lindsay Nicholson, Derek Tucker of the Aberdeen Press & Journal, Spencer Feeney of the South Wales Evening Post and Kent Messenger Group editorial director Simon Irwin, as well as 10 public members.

Sir Christopher Meyer, chairman of the PCC, said both editors have "great experience of different parts of the press, something which will help keep our adjudications well-informed and relevant in the era of media convergence".

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